welcome to bbc news, i'm james reynolds. our top stories: the us supreme courtjudge, ruth bader ginsburg, has died. she was 87 and had been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer. with weeks to go until the us presidential election, her death sets up a battle for her replacement. hello and welcome to bbc news. within the past couple of hours it's been announced that the us supreme courtjudge, ruth bader ginsberg, has died. she was 87. she had been undergoing treatment for pancreatic

cancer. laura trevelyan looks back at her life and career. ruth bader ginsburg was beloved by american sport championing women's rights. despite excelling at harvard law school, the young mother couldn't get a job, experiencing discrimination first hand. she worked to promote women's rights in the 70s, arguing infront promote women's rights in the 70s, arguing in front of the us supreme court that women faced cremation in employment. rbg was involved in the first case which stated sex discrimination

was unconstitutional. she wrote the brief for the aclu writing all of the reasons why sex discrimination needed to be unconstitutional under the 14th amendment. as a trailblazer, she was made a federaljudge by presidentjimmy carter. then came the ultimate honour. i, ruth bader ginsburg, do solemnly swear... it was president bill clinton who nominated her to the supreme court in 1993. in the hearings, she defended a woman's right to choose an abortion. she became only the second female justice in history to find those concerned about her age. in history to find those concerned about her agelj in history to find those concerned about her age. i was age 60 when i was nominated in some people thought i was too old for thejob. well, now i am into my 27th, starting my 27th yearin into my 27th, starting my 27th year in the court, the way in one of the longest tenured justices, so if you are worried about my age, it was

unnecessary. ruth bader ginsburg was a powerful author of legal opinions. when the court ruled in favour of george w bush in 2000, effectively deciding the presidential election in his favour, she famously wrote the descent. is more conservative justices were appointed to the court in recent yea rs, appointed to the court in recent years, her dissenting opinions were more frequent and her legacy became clear. on the court, she continued to legitimise and extend the rights of women. in the workplace, in education, in all walks of life. but beyond that, she continued to work for the expansion of rights, the recognition of right, for all people. ruth bader ginsburg's distinctive legal voice made her a cult figure. she was parodied on late—night tv, the subject of books, t—shirts, and a documentary, much to her surprise. it is amazing. iam

$0011 surprise. it is amazing. iam soon to be 87 years old, and eve ryo ne soon to be 87 years old, and everyone wants to take a picture with me. she had to apologise for calling donald trumpafaker apologise for calling donald trump a faker in 2016, a rare misstep. and herfinal years, she battled cancer repeatedly, receiving treatment while still working. democrats willed her to stay on the job, fearing president trump would replace her with a conservative leaning justice, submitting the court's tilt to the right. ruth bader ginsburg will be remembered as a champion of women's liberal rates and a leading voice on the supreme court. people are now gathering at the supreme court in washington. in the last couple of minutes, some of them even saying let it be. with me to discuss all the

katty kay and washington. the fa ct katty kay and washington. the fact that crowds have gathered there outside the supreme court clearly shows what an important moment this is for america. yes, and the affection with which ruth bader ginsburg was herself, it's actually interesting, president trump came out and was told the news by reporters not long ago, in the last half hour or so, and he said, we had our differences but she was an amazing woman andi but she was an amazing woman and i think there is a recognition, we can get into politics later, that here is this woman who overcame huge hurdles this is not a place that was thickly friendly to women, she was only the second woman on the supreme court and she had battled gender discrimination her whole career, made it onto the supreme court, she's been battling cancer for years, and she was much loved and she became this iconic figure, she had these famous workout routines where she would do push—ups and lift weights right into her mid 80s, the rbg

workout began a following and so workout began a following and soi workout began a following and so i think there is a lot of affection for her and her ferocious commitment to the supreme court, the institution of the supreme court and to liberal values, of course, to democrats she was a hugely important legalfigure democrats she was a hugely important legal figure and then of course there are the politics of this, too. it is a moment where you have got these big forces coming into play and the death of one woman has become a tectonic shift in american politics with what it is, five weeks or six weeks to go until the united states election. just ticking on her role as a trailblazer, adjusted the tossup just now stopping 114 supreme courtjustices and history, of whom four were only women, so history, of whom four were only women, so when she was nominated in 1983 it was highly unusual to have a woman on the court which in history, is still trailblazing. she was hugely important and she took women's rights and promoting

women's rights and promoting women's rights and promoting women's rights very seriously throughout her whole career. she made her legal name by battling sex discrimination in the workplace, that is how she came to prominence in the country. it's the famous case that the film about her life is based on and then it took another whole presidency, we went all through the and there wasn't another woman appointed and we got into 0bama's presidency and he appointed two more women but still, that is a total of four, it is not very many, so total of four, it is not very many, so now we total of four, it is not very many, so now we are total of four, it is not very many, so now we are back at a supreme court of nine, we've gone down to eight and there are now only two women on the supreme court, both liberals, both appointed by president barack 0bama, and we will see who replaces ruth bader ginsburg and how many members of the us senate are prepared to allow for nomination and the confirmation of a supreme court justice to take place in this very febrile election

atmosphere. in her own lifetime, ruth bader ginsburg, unusually for a supreme court justice, criticised the president, in this case, president, in this case, president trump but there is some irony, then, that he might get to choose her replacement. there is a statement coming out this evening, saying that her dying wish was that she wanted the next president to be the person who chose her successor. she didn't specify whether that next president would bejoe biden or donald trump, but she wa nted biden or donald trump, but she wanted at least to get through the selection, and i guess, because she is a democrat, at least the chance that that would be joe biden least the chance that that would bejoe biden and not donald trump, who replaced her. idid speak donald trump, who replaced her. i did speak to one democrat this evening who said to me, it is no secret in democratic circles that a lot of democrats wish that she had retired during president 0bama's time because then he could have chosen her successor and ensured that there would have been a liberal replacing a liberal, because these are

lifetime appointment that you would have then had 30, potentially 30 years of a democrat on the supreme court and now the democrats are facing the prospect of losing another seat on the supreme court and being really unbalanced where you would have six republicans and three democrats. for those just tuning in ensing the immense of coverage, not just tuning in ensing the immense of coverage, notjust on the bbc but no doubt on every other network, can you sum up how important the supreme court is to america and why we are discussing the death of a judge. i think it is something that really took me by surprise when they first moved to america. so much attention is placed around the world to presidential elections, to the senate election, perhaps even to congressional elections and we don't really think about these ninejudges who we don't really think about these nine judges who sit on these nine judges who sit on the supreme court of the united states, who are nominated by a president for reflecting their political values, they are political values, they are political appointees, and they are there for life and the

supreme court really affects an enormous amount of american life. it affects what you do in your bedroom, defect where you can go to school, it affects race issues, who you can marry, 93v race issues, who you can marry, gay rights in the country, financing for elections, i can't think of an aspect of american life where the supreme court, at some point, is not called to weigh in and what the supreme court rules becomes the law of the land, so having that supreme court body in your political favour is an enormous triumph if you are a republican ora triumph if you are a republican or a democrat, you really want a republican supreme court or democratic supreme court. i had a democrat say to me tonight, everything is up grabs if the republicans take control of the supreme court, six republicans to three democrats, abortion rights are up for grabs. gay rights are up for grabs. gay rights are up for grabs. gay rights are up for grabs, race equality in the country is up forgrabs, equality in the country is up for grabs, voting rights are up for grabs, voting rights are up for grabs. they really feel this is a moment where they

could be losing a huge amount of power, and where america could be about to become a much more conservative country for yea rs more conservative country for years to come, whoever is elected in november. would you mind holding on a second because they would like to play our view is the reaction from the two people who will get to pick the new supreme court justice. she just died? pick the new supreme court justice. shejust died? wow! i didn't know that. you're telling me now for the first time. she led an amazing life. what else can you say? she was an amazing woman, whether you agreed or not, she was an amazing woman who led an amazing woman who led an amazing life. i'm actually sad to hear that. i'm sad to hear that. thank you very much. let me be clear. voters should pick the president and the president should pick the justice for the

senate to consider. this was the position of the republican senate in 2016 when there were almost ten months to go before the election. that is the position the united states senate must take today, and the election is only 46 days off. i think the fastest justice ever consumed was 47 days, and the average is closer to 70 days. and so, they should do this with full consideration, and it is my hope and expectation what will happen. joe biden there, and just to reiterate the news, we are reacting to the death of ruth bader ginsburg, the american supreme courtjustice who has died at the age of 87. her death opened up a vacancy on the supreme court, this now becomes a central issue in the 2020 presidential election which is only 45 days away. katty kay is still with us. interesting reaction from both

trump and biden, they now become the central players over this vacancy. and it becomes a very political issue. are just was texting with somebody on the trump campaign and asking them how they thought this affected the election, and one point they were making is that they think it helps trump because it shifts the conversation away from the coronavirus to issues of the constitution and culture, because supreme court judges are very much tied up in cultural issues in america, with issues like abortion and 93v with issues like abortion and gay right, they are fundamental to the work of the supreme court and fundamental to president from's legacy. this is why evangelical christians supported him back in 2016, was precisely so that he would make courts in america more conservative, that he would appoint conservative judges around the country, and in particular to the supreme court. he has been incredibly lucky, he has had, if they managed to push this one

through, and there are some doubts emerging about that, but he has had three supreme court appointments and one presidency. barack 0bama had two in the course of eight yea rs two in the course of eight years so if he can really swing the supreme court in a conservative direction, that is why conservative evangelicals voted for him in 2016, despite everything we knew from the access hollywood tape about his views on women, accusations that he had had extramarital affairs, they still went for him because they thought he was going to elect conservative judges and that was a deal worth doing for them and he has done that. this trump campaign official that i have just been speaking to sit, i think this helps him because we're not going to be talking about the virus, we are going to be about those cultural issues and that helps president trump, he think. and just to reinforce that, three vacancies in almost four years is almost unheard of. it's normally about one every four or so years. the man who presided in the senate over a lot of the confirmation hearings of ruth bader ginsburg

herself was joe biden. hearings of ruth bader ginsburg herself wasjoe biden. he knows this process from the senate inside out. the famous clarence thomas hearings he chaired in 1991, but he could only affect this process if he becomes president, or is that too late? the timing would make it difficult. senator ted cruz, the republican from texas, says he thinks that the president should nominate a judge next week and that there should be a confirmation hearing before the election and there are some conservatives tonight saying, look, what happens if we have an election that could be contested, and we have all been hearing about postal vote and president trump has been suggesting that could be invalid, that they could be fraudulent, what happens if there is an election that is contested and we only have eight people on the supreme court was back is that than a constitutional crisis, and even greater constitutional crisis. their argument is we need somebody in place, we need no members, we need the full court

in position and they would like it to be a conservative court, which it would be, 6—3. all of this, as we have been discussing through the course of the evening, you have to start getting into senate maths. the senate is controlled by republicans 53—47. the president nominate somebody, but then they get voted on by the senate and the senate has to have 51 senators have to vote in favour of that candidate. at the moment they have 53 but there are already a few senators, senator makowski of alaska says hold on a second, we should be voting on this until after the inauguration because this is too close to the election, it is too political. we need the news and is in place for that. suzanne collins, according to one reporter, has said she doesn't like rushing as before the election. and according to another reporter, mitt romney has said he didn't think there should be somebody confirmed until after the election. that would take three of the tables and that then gets you to 50-50, the

and that then gets you to 50—50, the senate would be a tie, mike pence could potentially come in, he would be the swing vote if there was a tie. you have other senators around there who would be under an enormous amount of pressure, republican senators who are moderates who would be under a huge amount of pressure, particularly if president trump loses the election tojoe biden to say no, we will hold off on this process until after the inauguration and let the new administration deal with this. katty kay. we will be back with you ina katty kay. we will be back with you in a bit. thank you so much. reiterating the news, we're covering reaction, and there plenty of it, to the death of ruth bader ginsburg, only the second woman ever to serve on the us supreme court. she became a liberal icon, even a famous pop culture figure right into her 80s. she served for 27 years on the supreme court and, already, there are small crowds of her supporters gathering at the supreme court itself stop we speak now to kristin clark, president and executive director of the national lawyers committee for civil rights under the law. you saw her in court in the supreme

court a number of times? yes. my court a number of times? yes. my organisation, the lawyers committee for civil rights under law has had a number of seminal civil rights cases that have been heard throughout the yea rs, have been heard throughout the years, they have had the opportunity to sit in the court, which are in action, see her engage and see her pose questions. she is a unique figure on the court. she is not somebody who was ever silent or quiet. she was a very, very active questioner of both parties that appeared in cases that went before the court. this is an incredibly sad moment for the country and for our democracy. in many respects, justice ginsburg lies at the heart of our nation's gender equality movement. she forged a career as a woman

fighting for genderjustice at the aclu. she was one of the first tenured law professors at columbia law school and only the second woman to be confirmed to the united states supreme court. this is a loss for the nation, no doubt. when she became a lawyer, there was an article recently in a magazine, it was incredibly ha rd magazine, it was incredibly hard for women to make a legal profession. they were condescended to, patronise, told they needed to be with theirfamilies. she told they needed to be with their families. she kept told they needed to be with theirfamilies. she kept going and she made it all the way to the supreme court. that is quite a blazing trail that she made. indeed. and it explains in many respects why she is such a pop icon, if you will. she grew up in brooklyn. she attended public schools and has attended public schools and has a very kind of gritty background that a loss of ordinary americans can identify

with —— lot of. i am here in washington, dc and the supreme court is flooded tonight by people who admired her deeply. she bore the nickname rbg and was very much beloved, by women, by girls, and by americans all across the country. one of my most famous quotes from justice ginsburg was given in a speech where she observed that the constitution isa observed that the constitution is a living document that evolves with times. when she was somebody who believes that we the people is a term that throughout history has become more inclusive, more inclusive of african—americans, more inclusive, more inclusive of african—america ns, native americans, and, eventually, of women when the. her death leaves the balance of the supreme court in question. she was undoubtedly a liberal

justice, but a rip publican, a conservative president, with the support of conservatives, may now get the chance to pick a successor, potentially changing the balance of the court ina changing the balance of the court in a way that we haven't really seen since thurgood marshall was replaced by clarence thomas in 1991.” would argue that she was a fair justice, impartial and independent. she was confirmed with an extraordinary bipartisan majority in the centre 27 years ago, i believe the vote was 96—3 —— stannet. it was the last vote in the ‘905. -- it was the last vote in the ‘90s. —— senate. it was the last vote in the '90s. -- senate. throughout her time on the bench she proved to be somebody willing to fully hear both sides of the case and come up with the fair outcome. she was somebody who really pushed to breathe —— breathe life into the principal equal justice under law and her death, no doubt, changes the

balance of the court and the supreme court is an essential institution in our democracy. the supreme court issues rulings that impact every aspect of our daily lives. and we need and want a court that reflect the diversity of our country and reflect the diversity of our cou ntry a nd reflects reflect the diversity of our country and reflects the values and principles that animate our constitution. but how do you deal with the fact that, at the moment, president trump, whom ruth bailey ginsburg criticised in her lifetime, unusually, was sold for it, how do you reckon with the fact that he may get to pick her successor, who may bea to pick her successor, who may be a complete judicial officer —— ruth bailey ginsburg. be a complete judicial officer -- ruth bailey ginsburg. we have an election that is under way. it is not the case that we have an election on november three. voting is already under way in several sets. there is a

pandemic in our country we have protest happening across our country. there is legislation sitting on the desk of senator mitch mcconnell, the leader of the senate, who has failed to move and provide relief to vulnerable americans who are suffering because of the pandemic. he has failed to provide the resources that states really need to conduct safe and secure elections in our country. he has failed to respond to the police violence crisis and there are bills dealing with all of these issues sitting and collecting dust on his desk. it is my belief that he needs to turn to those pressing priorities right now before anything else and it would be sheer hypocrisy for him to ignore the words that he said in 2016, which is that no supreme court nominee needed to be thrown into the cauldron of an active election season. kristen clarke, thank you so

much forjoining us. thank you for having me. just repeat, we are covering reaction to the death of ruth bader ginsburg, she was appointed to the court in 1993 she was appointed to the court in1993 and she was appointed to the court in 1993 and her vacancy now on the court calls the balance of the court calls the balance of the court calls the balance of the court into question. just to explain how it works, the president picks the supreme court justice, a president picks the supreme courtjustice, a nominee, that nominee is then put towards the senate, at the moment the way a senate, at the moment the way a senate rule works is a simple majority will confirm or deny that nominee and that really is what the politics of this is all about and that is something we're going to explore with steve herman, voice of america's white house bureau. steve, i would like you to talk about the politics of this. a va ca ncy about the politics of this. a vacancy on the supreme court with 45-46 vacancy on the supreme court with 45—46 days to go in the presidential election. it changes the whole dynamics of the election this close to

november three. as katty kay mentioned just a few minutes ago, for the trump campaign, they see this as a positive in shifting to this issue, away from some other issues, such as the coronavirus pandemic, that they would prefer not really to be confronted with. now, the senate majority leader, mitch mcconnell, has indicated that the president's nominee, we would expect to see a shortlist in the next few days and maybe a single nominee very quickly, should be voted on. but he did not indicate the timing of the choices, of course they could try to do it before the election. but as has been pointed out, there may be some republican senators who are vulnerable in the selection who don't want to commit to that. 0r don't want to commit to that. or they can wait until a lame—duck session after the election when, even if donald trump loses, presumably the senate is still in control of

the republicans, could try to push forward with the nominee. the second case is what is more likely, i think. the second case is what is more likely, ithink. but the second case is what is more likely, i think. but president trump has been very unconventional and he could put tremendous pressure on the senate majority leader to go ahead and push through a vote before the election. so at this hour, so closely after the death ofjustice ginsburg, anything is possible. let us look if we can at the numbers because they are important to look at. 53 republicans in the senate, 47 democrats. katty kay was saying earlier it is not entirely clear of all of those 53 republicans will line up and say yes we will vote or a shot nominee in the next few weeks. some of those moderates, some of those centrists who are facing tough election fires might decide to waive a little bit. that calls into question mitch mcconnell‘s strategy.

they are certainly wavering on whether there should be an election and it appears that at this hour three of them are saying no, we should wait. but ifa saying no, we should wait. but if a vote does go forward, would they vote against their own party and the president's nominee? they have to way that politically. now, diane feinstein, the senator from california who was the ranking member of the top democrat on the judiciary member of the top democrat on thejudiciary committee member of the top democrat on the judiciary committee is saying, absolutely, there should not be a vote on this before we have the new president inaugurated early next year. so keep an eye on what senators are saying publicly and what they are signalling and, especially, on the president's twitter feed. but he did not indicate in those remarks under the wing of air force one within the last hourin air force one within the last hour in minnesota whether he would push for a vote, but we

can certainly expect him to react in the hours and days ahead. that is president trump now faces the potential of having a third supreme court pick ina having a third supreme court pick in a single term, which is almost unheard of in recent history. let us look now atjoe biden. politicians alive and serving, there is almost no—one who knows more about the supreme court than joe who knows more about the supreme court thanjoe biden, given his many years during the senate's judiciary mitty, chairing the confirmation hearings of justices, is chairing the confirmation hearings ofjustices, is not in the senate anymore, he is running for president stop what kind of impact might he have on this process given he is not president at the moment? he has made it very clear in barcella that the people should be president and the president should pick thejustice, the nominee and then the senate votes on it. just how much of this is going to overshadow the presidential campaign and how muchjoe biden would be compelled to speak about this

issue and not focus on attacking the president in his record on other issues such as the handling of the coronavirus pandemic, which the democrats have been gaining traction on and also countering president trump's law and order message, which appears in some of the swing state to have backfired with voters. so this is a very risky situation for the biden campaign. but in these first few hours, of course, everyone wa nts to few hours, of course, everyone wants to be respectful, to allow a period of mourning, and even from the white house press secretary, and the last few minutes we have had a tweet where she showed the flag at half staff at the white house for the passing of justice ginsburg and noted that rbg, as she is known, was a real trailblazer for women. she is known, was a real trailblazerfor women. but she is known, was a real trailblazer for women. but as the days go on and the period

of mourning phase, we can expect just pure of mourning phase, we can expectjust pure politics to envelop this process. steve herman, thank you so much. we are continuing to cover the life of ruth bader ginsburg who has died at the age of 87, she was a serving supreme court justice, the 24th longest serving supreme court justice in america, a trailblazer for women's rates as well and the reaction across america has been instantaneous. lets go through some of it. president trump andjoe through some of it. president trump and joe biden, have both given their reaction. the republican senator lindsey graham has tweeted : isa is a member of the supreme court, that is an important reaction because he is a member of the senate and will get to vote.